


Snow

by AbigailHT



Series: Holiday Series '17 [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: (kinda), Action/Adventure, Awkward Sexual Situations, Christmas, Demisexuality, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Foreplay, Holidays, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Patient!Paul, demi!Daryl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 09:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13143534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbigailHT/pseuds/AbigailHT
Summary: Daryl and Jesus go on a run together and some unexpected things happen.





	Snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CanonCannon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanonCannon/gifts).



> This is Part 2 of the Holiday Bingo Series, both works belong together. It can also stand alone, but if you'd like to read the prequel first, you can find it here: [PART I](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12944199)
> 
> This is dedicated to _CanonCannon_ (I hope she‘ll know why? :D) and I used the prompt „Snow“ :)  
>  I hope you enjoy <3

“What was that about snow, again?”

Paul smiled. The whole purpose of them rushing to go on this run had been to avoid the snow, but it was apparently too late for that.

“Well, I guess, we should’ve seen that coming, driving north and all.”

“Where did ya get this car, anyway?”

“Why, do you like it?”

Daryl just snorted and looked out of his window on the passenger side, not willing to admit that he was a little impressed. The camper Paul had borrowed from The Kingdom was luxurious to say the least. It had been new when the breakout had happened and it had all the gimmicks one could ask for. Except for a little heating delay in the shower, it was fully functional and actually fancier and more comfortable than their trailer back in Hilltop. It also swallowed a good amount of gas which was why they had brought spare gas cans just in case.  

Its owner was a mechanic who had also been a car dealer before the turn, he had been able to go back to his store in Washington after things had calmed down, and he had been lucky that his shop had been intact after all that time. Bringing back all those mainly “new” vehicles had been a huge gain for The Kingdom, and he had managed to keep this vehicle neat and well-working after that and during the war even, which was a miracle in itself. He also maintained other cars, he’d done it together with his colleague who’d sadly died during the war. It hadn’t only pained Paul to see another face buried among many, but also to see people with professions and knowledge getting killed because Negan hadn’t even tried once to consider a truce.

No. Destruction and death had been all he had brought upon them all and everyone had had to pay the price for that.

Even though they knew that the route had to be at least clear from road blocks because the others had used it to return to Hilltop not long ago, the trip was interrupted several times through walkers, delaying the drive immensely since Paul didn’t want to damage the camper. But if there was anything that people had plenty of during the apocalypse, it was time. There was no rush, no need to make hasty decisions, no need to hurry and get the job done so they could get back. They had a camper with a full water and gas tank, had enough provisions, and were well equipped to stay out longer than they had planned to if it was needed.

It got dark sooner than they had expected because of the weather betraying them, and because it wasn’t cold enough for the snow to stay on the roads, it started to melt. Paul was glad for it, but then he noticed the little warning sign on his dashboard an hour later, warning him that the roads could be icy, and when he had to make a sudden break because of walkers roaming the road ahead and the tires slipped a little too much for his taste, he decided to call it a night and rest at the side of the road after getting rid of the walkers nearby.

Silence dominated the vehicle while they heated the leftovers they had been given before leaving Hilltop, and after they settled down at the table, they both ate lost in their own thoughts. It wasn’t uncomfortable, on the contrary. Neither of them felt the need to fill the silence with random talk all the time, and both of them enjoyed being together like this, sharing the same space, having the reassurance of the other’s presence, and it felt comforting. Daryl was sitting in the corner of the seat, his leg up with his feet on the upholstery, and Paul was sitting beside him, slightly leaning into his shoulder.

“When I was a kid, I would see these vehicles on TV, people going on trips, camping, and having fun with their families, and it was something I wanted to do so much with my parents.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, he only stopped shoving his food into his mouth for a second before he continued to eat again, this time, at a slower pace. They hadn’t talked much about before, there was no need to. It didn’t matter anymore. But there had been rare occasions in which one of them had shared something private they hadn’t told anyone else, moments in which silence had filled the room with comfort, helping them relax against each other, forgetting for a while what awaited them outside.

“I annoyed them so much with it, I even cut out newspaper ads to stick everywhere I thought they could see, even at the back of the door in the bathroom where you had nowhere else to look when you were sitting on the toilet,” he added with a chuckle. “Miraculously enough, it seemed to have worked though, or maybe they just wanted me to stop decorating the whole house with newspaper cut-outs.”

He looked down on his plate and the smile on his lips faded slowly.

“Did they buy one?” Daryl asked when Paul didn’t continue his story.

Paul just shrugged. “No. They died in a car accident the weekend after, while I was staying at my grandparent’s place.”

The silence that followed had nothing in common with the previous one. Paul didn’t want the mood to drop like this because he’d had felt like sharing a silly childhood memory, so he shrugged again and tried to think of a joke he could make, or a clever remark, but he couldn’t come up with any.

“Did you stay with them after?” Daryl asked, merely in a whisper.

“For a while, but then I was taken away and put in the system because they couldn’t look after me anymore, after my grandfather had a stroke…” Paul said and put his plate down on the table. “You know what? Maggie is planning a little Christmas party for the kids, she also invited the other communities, she asked me if we could get some lights or other stuff that would be useful for the party on our way if we happened to find a shopping mall or something to that extent. I think I might know where we could look, but I’d rather do that on our way back.”

Daryl stared at him for a moment, Paul knew that he wasn’t buying into the fake topic change he had attempted, but he just gave a nod and put his empty plate beside his.

“Alright then, we should go sleep and head out early in the morning,” Paul said and patted Daryl’s thigh before he stood up and walked through the small bathroom area to reach the bedroom in the far back of the vehicle.

It had two single beds on each side with a little aisle in the middle. Paul stopped, then turned around and walked back toward the driver’s seats, passing Daryl who had been about to follow him to the bedroom. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just thought maybe using the double bed up here would be smarter,” he said, folding down the seats so he could pull down the bed which was placed above them in the ceiling of the vehicle.

“Why?” Daryl asked, his voice higher pitched than usual.

Paul stopped what he was doing and looked up at him. They’d been living together, and also had started sharing Paul’s bed a few weeks ago, but nothing else apart from lingering kisses and occasional cuddles had happened there. Paul didn’t want to push him into something he wasn’t comfortable doing, and he didn’t mind as long as they were together. But he had to be lying if Daryl’s little panicked question hadn’t made him feel at least a little bit awkward.

“We can save gas if we don’t heat the place. The engine is turned off, it’ll get cold fast, sleeping together would be warmer.”

“Ah, yeah, ‘course…”

“Is this making you feel uncomfortable, Daryl?”

“Nah.”

Daryl shrugged, as if to shake the uneasiness that Paul could see in his face just like that. They looked at each other for a while, Daryl trying to act nonchalantly, Paul unsure if he should just pretend nothing had happened and go back into the bedroom and use the single beds for the night. But then, Daryl sighed and walked towards him, reaching up to the ceiling and pulling down the fold out bed.

“Okay,” Paul said in a murmur and went back into the bedroom to get some cushions and blankets.

After settling down in the bed a few minutes later, they were still laughing because of Daryl’s failed first attempt to climb the bed. It had jumped right back up when he’d tried to climb it at first and he’d lost his balance, cursing.

“Shut up,” Daryl said and adjusted both of the blankets Paul had spread over of them.

That was when something thumped against the vehicle and they both jumped. It knocked against it a few times and then the sound disappeared.

“Probably a walker,” Paul whispered and turned towards Daryl.

The other man was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, and didn’t answer for a while.

“Daryl…”

He turned his head and their eyes met in the darkness. He couldn’t really see them well, but he could feel his gaze on him.

“Hmm?”

“Did you lock the doors?”

“Didn’t you?”

“Nope.”

“Great,” Daryl snorted. “Ain’t gonna stand up now.”

“You’re at the outer side of the bed.”

“Walkers ain’t gonna open doors anyway.”

“Yeah, I don’t care.”

“Me either.”

“Lazy _fucker_.”

Paul said that, but he wasn’t exactly feeling motivated to stand up himself either, so they lay for a few minutes, until he gave up with a sigh and climbed over Daryl, purposely pushing his elbow into his chest and stomach while doing so. Daryl tried hard not to make any sound, but after he’d locked the doors and climbed back up again, a deep groan slipped through his lips when Paul— _accidentally_ of course—pushed his knee into his side maybe a little too roughly.

“I think I’d’ve preferred the cold over this…” Daryl said with an annoyed huff.

Paul stopped in his movements above him and leaned down, placing his lips on his ear, hovering above his skin just enough to make him shiver.

“Be my guest,” Paul whispered and wanted to lie down, but Daryl suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him.

He turned his head and then placed a soft kiss on Paul’s cheek. Paul’s heart jumped up his throat, he hadn’t expected that at all, especially not after him acting weird about them sharing this bed together earlier. He pulled back a little, tried to catch a glimpse of his eyes, but was interrupted by Daryl pulling him closer and pressing his lips on his. A surprised moan sneaked its way through his throat and he leaned into the kiss, opening his lips to catch Daryl’s lower lip and tug at it with his teeth. He smiled when he felt the sharp gasp of the other man, then he pulled back, resisting Daryl’s grip that was trying to keep him in place.

Daryl breathed in and out loudly, looking confused, “What…”

Paul didn’t answer, crawled back under the blankets—it had started to get cold—and slid towards him until their bodies touched, until his leg settled somewhere between his, until he was half lying on his chest, until their lips met again. Although they’d kissed like this before, tangled up together in bed, it felt different to Paul. For some reason, Daryl seemed to be more enthusiastic than ever, and he just couldn’t stop thinking about why he’d reacted like that earlier.

He pulled back again and Daryl followed him unconsciously, not letting their lips part, so Paul had to push him back into his cushion. Daryl pulled his brows together, this time, it was frustration that was written across his face.

“What is this?” Paul asked.

“What?”

“This? You were reluctant to share this bed, and now…?”

“Wasn’t reluctant.”

“Yeah? What was that, then?”

It was important for Paul to know, he knew that Daryl didn’t feel comfortable with some things. They hadn’t spoken explicitly about sex before, but the message he’d gotten from him, the feeling he gave him, had been clearly on the PG-13 side—and it had been okay for him, he wouldn’t ask for more. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was strange now, and if this was something Daryl felt pressured into doing, then he wanted to know before there was no turning back.

“Was nervous…” Daryl whispered after biting on his lip for a while.

“Why?”

Sometimes, conversations with Daryl were like pulling teeth, and sometimes, even though he was a very patient man, it was hard to not dig harder and deeper for him to spill out whatever he was holding back.

“Do we have to talk about this now? Can’t we just…” Daryl stopped talking, wasn’t able to find the right words.

“Fuck?” Paul joked and pulled one eyebrow up playfully, a smirk growing on his lips.

When Daryl slightly turned away from him and avoided eye contact, it seemed to be more than just a joke to him, and Paul pulled up both eyebrows now in astonishment.

“Yer a jerk.” Daryl breathed and put a hand on his face to hide behind it, even though it was too dark to see much anyway, but Paul suspected that he was blushing hard.

“Wait, seriously?” Paul asked, now it was his turn to have a high pitched voice, and suddenly, it felt too hot in the cool vehicle, excitement creeping up his skin far too quickly.

“Forget about it and go to sleep,” Daryl said, turning around, pulling the blanket with him and literally showing him a cold shoulder.

“What? But… I mean…”

“Shut up and sleep, man.”

“Daryl…” he whispered and touched his shoulder, but the other man completely ignored him.

He couldn’t suppress the frustrated sigh, and he fell back into his cushion, not being able to stop staring at the back of Daryl’s head, but trying even harder to will his arousal away. It had been the first time for Daryl to show interest in something like that since they’d been together, and he’d just ruined it, hadn’t he? Damn.

 

***

 

The next day, they reached the hospital earlier than they had expected. It had started snowing again, but not enough to interfere with their drive. The area around the hospital seemed deserted. Abandoned cars were rusting in peace in the parking lot where they drove past and stopped in front of the main entrance. It was open. Paul dreaded the prospect of their trip maybe having been in vain, but they had to go look. They both grabbed their backpacks and walked into the hospital.

The pediatric ward was the first stop on their list, it was on the fourth floor. Just when Paul was leading them through the corridor to reach the main stairs, Daryl whistled faintly behind him. He stopped to turn around to see him gesturing at a sign that was attached on the wall. It was a sign to give visitors basic directions and at first, he didn’t understand what Daryl was meaning, when he reached the bottom of it and saw “pharmacy” with a little arrow pointing the direction. He nodded, and they just silently changed direction to the right. They could already hear distant snarls, Paul took out his knives and Daryl gripped his crossbow tighter. Killing walkers had become as easy as brushing teeth, it wasn’t even an effort for them to clean the whole wing before Paul put his backpack down in front of the pharmacy door to get out his tools.

“Why ain’t we just kicking the door in?”

“It’s a steel door, and I like my ankle, thank you very much,” Jesus muttered, pushing the tension wrench inside the lock and then starting to work his way through it with his hook.

“Steel door, pff,” he snorted and Jesus looked up at him.

“I would let you try if I didn’t like your ankle too,” he replied with a grin, and then turned the tension wrench around, unlocking the door.

Both of them couldn’t stop beaming—well, in Daryl’s case it was a slight half-smirk—when they entered the room. The door being locked had been reason enough for Paul to get excited already, but you never could be sure what awaited you on the other side of a door in the apocalypse. This time, it literally was a jackpot. The whole hospital pharmacy was fully stocked and didn’t seem to have been touched since day one. They decided to take everything with them and went out to search for boxes they could use to carry it all to the vehicle. It took them four hours to empty the pharmacy, and they only encountered a few walkers meanwhile.

“Maybe we shouldn’t push our luck and just head back,” Paul mused after they stored the last box in the bedroom that they weren’t intending to use anyway.

“We’re already here, might as well check out the rest.”

“Alright,” Paul answered and was about to walk outside again when Daryl grabbed his hand and held him back.

“Let’s take a break, plenty of time to go back in.”

Paul smiled and stepped closer to him. “How come we’ve never been out scavenging on our own like this before? We should do this more often.”

Daryl put one arm around his waist. “Yeah?”

“Yes, you’re like a complete different person out here, alone with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re more relaxed. Look at you, you grabbed and pulled me into your arms, can’t remember that happening before. And as much as I like the distant macho Daryl that you put on display inside the gates or around our family, I have to admit that I like this demanding and bold version of you.”

The blush that followed on Daryl’s face after his words was instant and he’d expected it. Hell, he’d even said those things on purpose to make it happen. It was one of those things that would lift Paul’s mood even during the darkest day—Daryl being flustered, his cheeks glowing with a soft pink color, his eyes trying to avoid him with a shyness that was the most adorable thing Paul could remember seeing at the moment.

“Do you?”  Daryl asked hoarsely, trying to act cool, but failing miserably.

Instead of an answer, Paul brushed his fingers against his cheek and leaned in to kiss the corner of his lips. Eager arms pulled him closer and the surprise he felt when something harder than usual pressed into his lower abdomen made him crook his head to look into Daryl’s eyes. Pupils blown wide, lips parted in anticipation, his chest moving faster than usual. Paul didn’t break the eye-contact when he rubbed himself against him slightly. Daryl closed his eyes and buried his face in his neck with a deep moan, tickling him and sending sensations through his body which all pooled in his crotch.

Paul didn’t make the same mistake twice. He didn’t force him to talk, and he didn’t have to anyway. The signals he was getting were far away from Daryl who’d be forcing himself to do something he wasn’t comfortable with. The growing pressure against his stomach and the arms pulling him even closer were the loudest and clearest answer he needed to know that he, indeed, was comfortable with this. So he pushed Daryl until his back found a wall he could press him against while he gave another rub and planted a kiss on his temple, enjoying the feeling of Daryl’s hot breath burning the skin of his neck.

It was over quicker than he’d liked it—a thunderous bang from the ceiling of the vehicle pulled them out of their little dream world. Both of them froze when a second bang followed the first. They pulled apart and looked at each other with the mixed feelings of confusion, surprise, and fear.

A third bang. And a fourth.

Something was falling down on them. And Paul could imagine pretty well what that might be since he had parked the vehicle very close to the building.

“Shit,” he said and stepped back from Daryl to walk to the front of the vehicle.

He hurried to get behind the wheel and turn the engine on, then he drove the camper away from the entrance and turned around to see walkers fall down from a window of the second floor. They must have broken the window which had held them prisoner up til this point. When he hit the brakes, two walkers flew down from the ceiling of the camper and hit the pavement hard, parts of them detaching from the torso, their skulls cracked open.

He turned around to look at Daryl who had reached his seat, but instead of sitting down, he had just clung on to it.

“They‘re falling on their heads, smashin‘ their brains,” Daryl said.

“Yeah, well, not all of them…”

The last two walkers who’d fallen down from the window hadn’t hit their heads on the ground and were now crawling up to their feet and starting to walk towards them. Plus, they saw three of new walkers come through the main entrance, followed by two more. They must have followed the noise they had made while clearing the pharmacy and carrying all those boxes out there and into their vehicle.

“Ain’t that many, we can make it.”

“We could, but is it worth the risk? And we don’t know what the inside of the hospital looks like right now. There could be two more, or dozens more. We should bring our haul back now and come back in spring to look at the rest of this place. We could clear it out then.”

“Why not now? We’re here for the kids, we should at least check the pediatric ward out.”

“There were a lot of things for them already in the pharmacy, it’s literally more than we had expected to find, Daryl. We don’t need to go back in, and we don’t know how overrun the wards are.”

After a small pause, Daryl sat down on his seat and sighed and Paul added, “As much as I trust both our abilities, the smart decision is to turn back now before something bad can happen. We don’t know if we’ll even find anything in the wards, the pharmacy was locked, but the rest of this place probably isn’t. Chances are that the rest of it could already be looted.”

“Why leave the pharmacy untouched?”

“Maybe they couldn’t open it without the risk of being overrun by walkers.”

“We ain’t sure, we should check it out.”

“Yeah we should, but for _now_ , we’ve got more than we’d hoped for and we are both unscratched, it can only go downhill from now, Daryl. And if something happens and we can’t bring those meds back, this whole trip will be in vain. We can check it out some other time…”

Daryl sighed again, this time more frustrated. “Alright. We could come back with more people then, maybe if they see what we brought, more will agree to come with next time.”

“Yeah, that might be a good idea,” Paul said with relief. “So, are we good to go then?”

Daryl nodded and put his boot on the dashboard, making himself more comfortable in his seat.

Paul turned on the engine again and they drove off, leaving the abandoned hospital, which was leaking more and more walkers now, behind. It still could have hidden treasures behind those walls and they had all the time in the world to prepare to come back again. He’d slipped one of the brochures having a sketch of the building plan in them into his backpack which could be useful for that.

Next time, they’d be better prepared and hopefully more people. Even though Paul regretted a little that they were already heading back. He had enjoyed this trip more than he probably should have. He looked at Daryl quickly before his eyes locked on the road again. Then he stretched his right hand and found Daryl’s thigh. He’d had the feeling that his decision had annoyed the other man a little, so he was glad when he felt Daryl’s palm on his hand, fingers closing around his.

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don‘t know what I‘m doing, ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯, lol. But I hope you still enjoyed :D  
> Talk to me on tumblr if you like @abigailht. 
> 
> P.s.: I hope the Teen and up rating was correct, I‘m never sure with these.


End file.
